Tisbury Selectmen Take Firm Stance Against Two Fast Ferry Service
Plans

BY JOSHUA SABATINI

Tisbury selectmen this week agreed the Steamship Authority should
postpone further action on fast ferry service until the concerns of the
town are satisfied and alternative possibilities are studied.

Contract talks between management and nurses at the Martha's
Vineyard Hospital are now at a bitter standoff, and hospital chief
executive officer Kevin Burchill said this week that he is prepared for
the possibility of a strike.

"Everything is now off the table. We're prepared for the
worst but we expect the best," he said.

Tisbury Selectmen Reject Bid to Bring Fox Ferries Into Harbor

BY JOSHUA SABATINI

Fox Navigation, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in
Connecticut, wants to resume high-speed ferry service to Vineyard Haven
harbor next season, but Tisbury selectmen denied the company a harbor
use permit at a public hearing Tuesday night.

Fast Ferry Catalina Was Repossessed

Passenger Ferry Proposed for New Service From New Bedford Was
Centerpiece Of Financial Trouble in California

By JULIA WELLS

The high-speed passenger ferry that the Steamship Authority is
negotiating to lease and possibly buy was returned to the Washington
state shipyard where it was built because it had mechanical problems
- and because it was a financial disaster for the California
company that bought it, the Gazette has learned.

Island Community Services Marks Historic Milestone

By MANDY LOCKE

Yellowing newspaper clips fill the pages of the Martha's
Vineyard Community Services scrapbook, tracing each program addition
through its 40-year history. Its history is one of growth - the
evolution of a single program in 1961 to an essential Island institution
in 2001. But the falls and flights that capture the organization's
resilience and commitment won't all be found in the newspaper
archives.

The Chilmark Public Library expansion project is the talk of the
town. Proponents of the project are scurrying about the community,
holding meetings in homes in an effort to raise the necessary votes in
the next special town meeting, scheduled for Nov. 19.

It is a more significant political contest than any
selectmen's race in years. For many it is a reminder of the
building of the new elementary school, which opened in 1999.

The Cape and Islands senate district - in place since the
founding of the Massachusetts legislature - will remain largely
intact thanks to the redistricting plan adopted by the state Senate
yesterday afternoon.

Opening day for the bay scallop season is as much a part of the
Vineyard culture as any holiday. On Saturday, dozens of smiling Tisbury
residents turned out in Lagoon Pond to harvest bushels of the tasty
sweet bivalves, and they had little trouble finding them.

Holders of family recreational permits harvested 528 bushels last
weekend. Those bay scallops would be valued between $40,000 and $50,000
if they were sold on the retail market.

The numbers of Island school students passing and even acing the state MCAS tests increased significantly this year, according to school and district test results released yesterday by the state department of education. Raw scores across the Island were also higher than state averages.

New Bedford Summit Pushes Fast Ferry

By JOSHUA SABATINI

At a summit meeting held at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Saturday,
officials from Martha's Vineyard, New Bedford and Falmouth agreed
to urge the Steamship Authority to consider a new proposal for fast
ferry service from the city to the Island.

New Bedford mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. invited Island officials
to the summit after the SSA board of governors killed the fast ferry
proposal by a vote of 2-1 last week.